CASTELMOLA
sicilia
Castelmola is a little town with around 1000 inhabitants in the province of Messina. The little and well preserved town, in origin built to defend Taormina, is in a top sheer fall in the Ionian Sea. The highest point can be reached going up a path, from the main square of the town, to the ruins of a castle. In the square there is a panoramic view-point that offers a beautiful view over the Ionian coast and the town of Taormina. The original name of the little town was Mola, in English millstone. This name was kept until the 1862, when it assumes the actual denomination. The town was founded by the Siculans in VIII century BC and destroyed by Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse, in 392 BC. In 350 BC it was rebuilt by Andramaco. It was conquered by the Romans, in 902 AD by the Arabs and in 1078 by the Normans.
Castle
The imposing Norman walls are all that remain of the castle. It is not possible to establish exactly the age of construction. The only certain element comes from a Greek-Byzantine inscription from the X century, incised in a marble plaque on the facade of the cathedral, that says: "This Castle was built under Constantine, patrician and strategos of Sicily". It probably refers to Constantine Caramalo, the last strategos of Taormina, who in the IX century prepared the defense against the Arabs. In spite of this, the majority of the historian agree on a more ancient construction in the Roman Age. In 1334, under the reign of Pietro d'Aragona, the castle was surrounded by walls and was made inaccessible to be used as fortress and jail for the near Taormina too. The Castle of Mola was for centuries the strongest ring of the defensive Peloritani chain, composed by the Castle of Milazzo, Ficarra, Tripi, Castroreale, Castiglione and Francavilla, representing for the various conquerors the crucial point that must be stormed to assume the control of the territory. The suggestive area of the castle acquires further charm during the performances of falconry that are kept among it ruins.
Piazza Sant'Antonino
Built in 1954, Piazza Sant'Antonino is a wonderful panoramic view-point over the underlying Taormina. It has a mosaic pavement in white lava stone. The Church of Sant'Antonio, which has been transformed into a municipal auditorium, is actually very old, and faces the piazza. On the same square there is also the historic Caffè San Giorgio, established in the 1700s by monks and used as a tavern. Since 1907 it has kept an album for collecting the signatures of famous persons who have come to the village. Defiladed in the right, put on a stone flight of steps, there is the ancient arch that shows the entrance of the town.
Cathedral
.jpg "Castelmola - Cathedral")
The Mother Church, rebuilt between the 1934 and 1935 over the preceding cathedral, is named to San Nicola di Bari. Architectonically it presents various styles: from the Romanesque to the Gothic, from the Arab to the Norman. Inside there are four marble altars set facing each other, a handsome pulpit and a wooden statue of Mary Magdalene by the Bagnasco school. The main entrance is on the side of the square, and faces a scenic outlook with a view of Mt. Etna and the gulf of Naxos.
Church of Saint George
Built around the 1450, the Church of San Giorgio distinguishes for the simplicity of architectonical lines and for the singleness of its bell-tower. Inside the church are kept valuable works of art, among these the XVII-century painting representing "Our Lady of the Rosari with Dominican and Franciscan Saints" and that representing "The Father and the Immaculate".
In the end, it is noterworthy the very particular "Bar Turrisi", certainly the only in its kind... Go here and you will understand!!! You do not lose one of the typical products of Castelmola: the "Vino alla Mandorla" (Almond Wine), made with white cold wine, almonds and orange essence.
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